Hygiene/Grooming

Its hard to believe that Eastenders has been on the air for 25 years! We all have our favorites but did you know that in their younger days they featured in a few commercials in the 80’s and 90’s? Have a chuckle at the below ads and see can you spot them!

Prudential – I want to be a Brain Surgeon

Jake Wood

1980’s Kellogg’s Fruit ‘N’ Fibre Advert

Ross Kemp

Yellow Pages (French Polisher)

Jake Wood

1980s Clearasil

The brand goes all the way back to 1768 when a Russian nobleman called Count Orlof commissioned a brand of perfume from Bayleys of Bond Street in London. The perfume was called ‘Eau de Cologne Imperiale Russe’. Russia leather was a high-quality leather exported widely from Russia and recognisable by a distinctive aroma from its birch oil tanning process. In 1921 Bayleys was acquired by Cussons Sons & Co, chaired by Alexander Tom Cussons. It was not until some years later in 1938 that Alex Cussons used the original perfume and created Cussons Imperial Leather soap and other toiletries. The soap was initially called ‘Imperiale Russian Leather’, but was soon renamed to Imperial Leather. In 1975 the Cussons Group was itself acquired by Paterson Zochonis, recently renamed to PZ Cussons.

The origins of the “Remington” name date back to the formation of E. Remington and Sons, a firearms maker founded in 1816. E. Remington & Sons made occasional forays into products other than firearms, such as sewing machines and farm implements — but its most significant side venture was when inventor Christopher Sholes persuaded the firearms company to help him develop the typewriter with theQWERTY keyboard, which is still the standard today. In 1886, E. Remington & Sons sold the typewriter company, which became Remington Typewriter Company. This in turn merged with the Rand Kardex Corporation in 1927 to become Remington Rand. Remington Rand branched out into making adding machines, filing cabinets, punched card tabulating machines, and other office equipment to become a leading office equipment company.

The origin of Remington personal care products dates back to 1937 when Remington Rand began to branch out to electric shavers, starting with the Remington Model E.

In 1950, Remington Rand bought the pioneering Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company. In 1955, it merged with Sperry Corporation, developer of the automatic pilot, amongst other devices. The combined company became the Sperry Rand Corporation and continued to market shavers under the Remington brand. In 1979, Sperry Rand sold off a number of its divisions, including the consumer products. Victor Kiam bought the electric shaver company in a leveraged buyout.

The American oil billionaire Armand Hammer collected many Fabergé pieces during his business ventures in communist Russia in the 1920s. In 1937, Armand Hammer’s friend Samuel Rubin, owner of the Spanish Trading Corporation which imported soap and olive oil, closed down his company because of the Spanish Civil War and established a new enterprise to manufacture perfumes and toiletries. He registered it, at Hammer’s suggestion, as Fabergé, Inc. The Faberge family did not learn about this until after World War II ended. Unable to afford protracted and expensive litigation, in 1951 they settled out of court for US$25,000 ($221,122 today) for the Fabergé name to be used in connection with perfume. Soon, Rubin added cosmetics and toiletries under the Faberge banner, usually sold in upscale department stores. Faberge had a high, prestige status, similar to rivals Coty, Guerlain and Elizabeth Arden. However, by 1964, Rubin sold Fabergé Inc. for $26 million toGeorge Barrie and the cosmetics company Rayette. In 1964, Rayette changed its name to Rayette-Fabergé Inc., and, in 1971, the company name was changed back to Fabergé Inc.